Word: amritsar
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...assassination of the country's Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, on Oct. 31, 1984, by her two Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. Earlier, in June, Gandhi had approved Operation Bluestar, a mission to flush out Sikh separatists who had amassed weapons in the Golden Temple in Amritsar in northern India. While the operation was considered a success, almost 500 Sikh civilians visiting the temple that day were killed by the Indian army, though unofficial reports suggest numbers much higher. (Read TIME's coverage of the riots' aftermath...
...Amritsar lives in many centuries at once. This holiest city of the Sikhs is home to their most revered shrine, the mystical and awe-inspiring Golden Temple, where nihangs - members of an armed Sikh order - live on in traditions dating back centuries, sporting distinctive electric-blue tunics and a panoply of weapons, even speaking a unique martial dialect of the Punjabi language. Other parts of this prosperous merchant city wear Levis, hang out at cafés, follow the latest diet fad or carry the latest iPod. And since May this year, Amritsar has also been home to India...
...advantage of being in Amritsar is that almost everyone in the business-oriented town is a merchant. Furthermore, the cash-and-carry format allows Bharti and Walmart to co-opt a part of the competition - the mom-and-pop, or kiryana, stores - by turning them into customers. In fact, there's a section within the Best Price store called a "model store," where kiryana shop owners are taught how to arrange goods in their store and optimize inventories to maximize profits...
...Indian consumers won't be able to partake of Wal-Mart's everyday low prices. India's restrictive commercial laws prohibit most foreign companies from setting up shop to compete with domestic retailers. So Wal-Mart's debut outlet, which will open in the city of Amritsar in northern India later this month, is a wholesale-only operation that will sell mainly to vegetable vendors, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and other companies. The Amritsar outlet won't even carry the familiar Wal-Mart brand. To deflect the attention of politicians and activists who oppose the entry of foreign multi-brand retailers...
...team tried to outdo their erstwhile colonial masters. A little over a decade ago an Indian Prime Minister called the U.K. a "third-rate" country after a perceived slight on an anniversary, and Prince Philip caused a furor during a Royal visit to the site of the massacre at Amritsar when he suggested that a memorial plaque "exaggerated" the number of people killed there by British troops. Still, while such contretemps may make headlines, they also distract from the love affair between Britain and India that endures to this...